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How to Protect Employee Morale During Budget Cuts · Speak In Flow

• 0:02
  Melinda Lee: Welcome to the Speak and Flow podcast, where we help CEOs empower their leadership team to strengthen communication so they can move together with more clarity, alignment, accountability. Because I believe communication is not a soft skill. It is how your people move together.
• 0:22
  Melinda Lee: And joining me today, we are talking about
• 0:26
  Melinda Lee: Accountability and motivation, especially in uncertain times.
• 0:30
  Melinda Lee: This is so important because as you know AI changes, it's so complex and sometimes we forget what is really important and our motivation becomes low. And this is such an important topic that I'm excited to talk about and dive in. We have Larisse Gonzalez. She is the San Francisco Public Works Principal Financial Analyst.
• 0:53
  Melinda Lee: And at Public Works, she also works on projects around employee engagement, processes. She is a lifelong learner, and I can't wait to dive into this episode. Welcome, Laurice, for the second time!
• 1:09
  Laurice Gonzales: Yes.
• 1:10
  Melinda Lee: We had such a fun time the first time, and so I had to have you come back. And so I just really admire all the things you do. Thank you for supporting the infrastructure in San Francisco, but also the people at SF Public Works.
• 1:24
  Laurice Gonzales: Absolutely. Thank you, Melinda, for having me for the second time. I had so much fun in the first time, too, so I was super excited that you reached out for a second one, and I'm, like, more than happy to do it.
• 1:35
  Melinda Lee: Yay. Thank you so much. And so, let's just begin with the first question. There is a busy leader out there who has stopped to listen to this episode.
• 1:46
  Melinda Lee: So what do you hope can change in this lives of this person, how the person leads or communicates by just really taking in everything you're about to tell them?
• 1:58
  Laurice Gonzales: I think, when you mentioned stop listening, it always brings me back to level of engagement, right?
• 2:07
  Laurice Gonzales: And, I'm hoping that, you know, as we talk about things, one thing would be, like, to learn to, accept the reality of things. Let's not sugarcoat it.
• 2:21
  Laurice Gonzales: Let's not make it look nice or, you know, like, let's just talk about things and accept things like.
• 2:28
  Laurice Gonzales: based on what our reality is, because I think that's what,
• 2:34
  Laurice Gonzales: makes things very difficult for workers, for employees right now. It's like, what's the real thing? What's the real situation? And you keep asking that question. And, you know, just talking about communication, I think that's a crucial part of it, right?
• 2:49
  Laurice Gonzales: Like, what's the truth? Where's the clarity? And so I hope, like, as you and I talk about these, like, difficult things and navigating through them, somehow, maybe, there's someone out there who'd be like, oh, I'm not alone in feeling that way.
• 3:05
  Laurice Gonzales: And so hopefully that's what, you know, comes out of our conversation this, this day.
• 3:11
  Melinda Lee: I love that, I love that, and I think it's so challenging for top executives to get that vulnerable, to say things that are uncomfortable, and so you're encouraging them just to be honest so that people can have the truth.
• 3:26
  Laurice Gonzales: Yes. Yes. Clarity builds trust.
• 3:31
  Melinda Lee: Yes.
• 3:32
  Laurice Gonzales: And, you know, trust is, you can't force it.
• 3:38
  Melinda Lee: Mmh.
• 3:38
  Laurice Gonzales: It's something that as you have honest conversations, you know how they call it the difficult conversation?
• 3:47
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 3:47
  Laurice Gonzales: the thing that a lot of people always try to avoid, I mean, you know, it's difficult. It's hard for me, it's hard for a lot of people, too. But those difficult conversations, yes, you have to handle it very carefully, but that's what builds trust.
• 4:04
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 4:05
  Laurice Gonzales: You know, when you just, calmly and factually talk about things, that's when you start building that trust, like, from leadership to employees.
• 4:18
  Laurice Gonzales: And I think just, like, not shutting down, communication between, you know, within an organization.
• 4:28
  Laurice Gonzales: Making people feel like, oh, not because you're at a certain position.
• 4:34
  Laurice Gonzales: You can't talk to certain people, you know?
• 4:37
  Melinda Lee: Mh.
• 4:37
  Laurice Gonzales: It's like, forget about those barriers. Let's talk about things. Let's keep it open.
• 4:44
  Laurice Gonzales: And I guess, you know.
• 4:47
  Laurice Gonzales: Understandably, I'm coming from a place where, in the department where I work in.
• 4:53
  Laurice Gonzales: that's how it is. Like, we have.
• 4:56
  Melinda Lee: Oh, yeah.
• 4:56
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, we have an executive team.
• 5:00
  Laurice Gonzales: who's, I guess more casually, they call it Open Door, you know, where you can approach them, talk to them.
• 5:08
  Laurice Gonzales: So for us, it's like, they're real people. You bump into them, you, you, you, you know, you can have those discussions. And so, maybe it's easier for me to say that because I know that I can have those kind of conversations even if they're at the executive level and I'm not.
• 5:27
  Laurice Gonzales: Maybe it's a little bit more challenging for others, but I think…
• 5:31
  Laurice Gonzales: That's crucial in building the trust. And so, yeah.
• 5:36
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, for the audience, can you share a little bit more about what you do at SF Public Works?
• 5:42
  Laurice Gonzales: Oh, yeah. So I think I'm at a point where it's kind of a culmination of experiences. It came from a background of communication, and then for years I worked on playing in performance, and then now I'm in budget.
• 5:58
  Laurice Gonzales: And so, when you say budget, people usually think it's Excel sheet and all that, but I think there's more to that, really. It's
• 6:07
  Laurice Gonzales: What's the story behind it? How do we pull off services to provide to the city and all those things? So for right now, that's the focus of what I work on. But like what you mentioned earlier.
• 6:25
  Laurice Gonzales: Aside of my role right now in the department, it's also focused on, employee engagement, and that's through our strategic planning.
• 6:35
  Melinda Lee: I love that. So that's so exciting. And I think that's really important. You probably have to share all the time budgets forecasting the story. And a lot of me, especially nowadays, it's going to be stories that are not easy to share.
• 6:51
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, I guess it's never really easy to start talking about the financial aspect of things.
• 6:57
  Laurice Gonzales: There are several layers to it, you know, especially working in government, we don't operate in a, in a silo, you know, it's not just us in our own bubble, it's, you know, taking into consideration the rest of, San Francisco City, you know, directives from the mayor's office and all that, and so…
• 7:16
  Laurice Gonzales: There are challenges right now, and it's not a secret, you know, it's, it's, it's in the news,
• 7:24
  Laurice Gonzales: budget cuts and all the challenges in the financial aspect, and so, just being able to, connect the dots, and, you know, I'm still trying to navigate through that and trying to see all those connections and how the narrative looks like.
• 7:40
  Laurice Gonzales: And, I think there should be a level of, open-mindedness and just like.
• 7:46
  Laurice Gonzales: Being willing to.
• 7:48
  Laurice Gonzales: Learn it.
• 7:50
  Laurice Gonzales: It's not a thing that you can learn overnight.
• 7:53
  Melinda Lee: No, right, because it's constantly changing. It's just, it is. And so what do you see in the landscape of employee morale right now when everything is changing and there's uncertainty? What is it in the employee engagement survey results?
• 8:08
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah you know that's a very good question because
• 8:14
  Laurice Gonzales: I think the the truth of it is.
• 8:19
  Laurice Gonzales: Motivation, like, employee motivation is being challenged right now, like, constantly.
• 8:27
  Laurice Gonzales: There's anything that's coming from uncertainties, right? So when you start hearing news about freeze hire, and budget cuts, and all that.
• 8:40
  Laurice Gonzales: It's hard not to feel.
• 8:44
  Laurice Gonzales: Or ask, how is this gonna affect me?
• 8:47
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 8:48
  Laurice Gonzales: And when you start asking questions like that, it affects your morale, right?
• 8:52
  Laurice Gonzales: I think when we talk about motivation, it's just
• 8:58
  Laurice Gonzales: Right now, it's this fragile thing.
• 9:00
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 9:01
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, yeah, and that's kind of where we are right now. You hear about Burnout, you know,
• 9:11
  Laurice Gonzales: yeah, it's, it's hard times right now, and I want to say, well, I'm speaking, from a perspective of somebody working in government, but, I don't know how it is in private, but it just feels like
• 9:26
  Laurice Gonzales: It's a problem that's not just,
• 9:30
  Laurice Gonzales: limited to government employees, but I feel like maybe it's something that's felt across different, you know, sectors and industries.
• 9:42
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah. Do you think that, when there are the external things, like the budget cuts, the bonuses, or, you know, lack of limited promotions, like, when those external things are gone.
• 9:56
  Melinda Lee: It really impacts the person internally like you mentioned. You just can't help but ask, how is this going to affect me? What is going to happen? And so you're saying that the employee morale and engagement becomes lower.
• 10:12
  Melinda Lee: And are there things that we can do to support people internally?
• 10:18
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, I mean, I I think when we when we when people think about motivation and engagement.
• 10:28
  Melinda Lee: Okay.
• 10:29
  Laurice Gonzales: I think the quick fix is always bonuses.
• 10:33
  Melinda Lee: And…
• 10:33
  Laurice Gonzales: You know, things that, I guess.
• 10:37
  Laurice Gonzales: To put it bluntly, things that require money, right? Right.
• 10:42
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 10:42
  Laurice Gonzales: And during hard times, it's, it's easy to just assume, oh, we don't have money, we can't work on motivation, we can't work on engagement, but we're forgetting that some things are actually free.
• 10:56
  Melinda Lee: Ugh.
• 10:57
  Laurice Gonzales: And some things that motivate people actually doesn't cost anything. And, you know, yes, they're hard to pull off.
• 11:10
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 11:10
  Laurice Gonzales: When you start thinking about things like… I guess, top of my mind would be,
• 11:17
  Laurice Gonzales: Helping people understand the purpose of their work. Yeah, that's a great motivator.
• 11:23
  Melinda Lee: Yes.
• 11:24
  Laurice Gonzales: when, you know, when you start seeing people who are losing motivation at work, it's like, why am I coming to work? It's hard to get up in the morning, you know, it feels like you're forcing yourself to come in at whatever time you're supposed to be in the office, but
• 11:41
  Laurice Gonzales: When you start helping people realize what's the meaning behind their roles.
• 11:47
  Melinda Lee: Okay.
• 11:48
  Laurice Gonzales: I think it's, it ignites the accountability part.
• 11:53
  Laurice Gonzales: And it just kind of ignites something in them where it's like, oh.
• 11:58
  Laurice Gonzales: I do this because this is my North Star. This is how my work contributes.
• 12:04
  Melinda Lee: Yes, and it's for themselves, not for.
• 12:06
  Laurice Gonzales: Okay.
• 12:06
  Melinda Lee: It could be both, right? It helps benefit the company, the organization, but it's mainly for myself.
• 12:14
  Laurice Gonzales: Yes.
• 12:14
  Melinda Lee: Like, I've said to this people sometimes when we have communication, and we have difficult conversations with somebody else, and they're like, well, why should I have it? Because they're not gonna change, it's gonna be always the same. But I said, well, what about just having it for yourself?
• 12:28
  Melinda Lee: And then they're like, that light bulb goes off, right? You just do it for yourself because it's helpful for you and beneficial for you.
• 12:36
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, I.
• 12:36
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, and you find that meaning back because it's back to yourself.
• 12:41
  Laurice Gonzales: Yes.
• 12:42
  Melinda Lee: Yes.
• 12:43
  Laurice Gonzales: When you, when, when you know your purpose.
• 12:45
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, but…
• 12:46
  Laurice Gonzales: When you know why you're coming into work every day.
• 12:50
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 12:50
  Laurice Gonzales: You know, it's like…
• 12:52
  Melinda Lee: Regardless of whatever organization you're at.
• 12:54
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, yeah. Anything you do it, like what you said, you do it for yourself, and you owe yourself that.
• 13:00
  Melinda Lee: Yes.
• 13:01
  Laurice Gonzales: It's easy to put the burden towards…
• 13:05
  Melinda Lee: No.
• 13:05
  Laurice Gonzales: people. Yeah, it's like, oh, because my boss isn't doing this or that.
• 13:09
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 13:10
  Laurice Gonzales: The executive team is not paying attention to this or that.
• 13:13
  Laurice Gonzales: But, you know, I think it's just kind of, like, a collaborative effort.
• 13:18
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 13:19
  Laurice Gonzales: I guess what I'm trying to say is we can't just expect it from, you know, example, executive team to the rest of the organization. It's like, how do you, you know, build it and how do you connect to that greater goal too?
• 13:39
  Melinda Lee: But you're like you're saying, especially when the executive team is being transparent and reassuring that, hey, we're doing the best we can. This is the information that we know. There's a lot changing, but just being upfront like that, it'll really help someone to connect, like build that, have that trust and connect and continue to move forward because it's not that people, you know, they understand. People understand the times today.
• 14:04
  Melinda Lee: And yeah.
• 14:05
  Laurice Gonzales: I agree, I agree.
• 14:06
  Melinda Lee: I agree.
• 14:07
  Laurice Gonzales: You know, I guess, related to that too, when, when communication is hindered, or like…
• 14:17
  Laurice Gonzales: For example, things aren't being shared to the rest of the department.
• 14:22
  Melinda Lee: Okay.
• 14:22
  Laurice Gonzales: Especially if it's things that directly affect employees.
• 14:26
  Melinda Lee: Mmhm.
• 14:26
  Laurice Gonzales: That's when people start, filling in the gaps.
• 14:32
  Melinda Lee: Mmhm.
• 14:32
  Laurice Gonzales: the communication gaps, right? And so they start… they start having thoughts of, like, maybe it was because of this, maybe it was because of that, maybe, you know, all the maybes and all the what-ifs.
• 14:44
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 14:44
  Laurice Gonzales: When the full story, the real story could have just been shared.
• 14:50
  Laurice Gonzales: to everyone, and then it's like, oh, that's what it is. And I think, you know, just kind of, like, circling back to this, like, trust building, when you trust your… your people.
• 15:01
  Laurice Gonzales: That they can handle the truth.
• 15:04
  Melinda Lee: Mmh.
• 15:05
  Laurice Gonzales: And that they, they have understanding of the truth.
• 15:12
  Laurice Gonzales: I think they trust you back, too, where it's like, oh, they're being transparent about it. I don't have to fill in the blanks, so to speak, right? Like, this is the story. Okay. Like, it's hard times. Let's call it hard times. Let's not sugarcoat it. And so it's kind of like coming from everybody, too.
• 15:32
  Melinda Lee: Right, right, right. So there's a sense of, like, a greater goal, or a greater good, like, there's a bond, there's a connection, everybody's working together towards something.
• 15:45
  Laurice Gonzales: Yep, ye.
• 15:45
  Melinda Lee: Overcoming this challenge is hard times.
• 15:48
  Laurice Gonzales: Yep.
• 15:49
  Melinda Lee: And is that, you think that's a secret? Is there anything else that you would recommend?
• 15:55
  Laurice Gonzales: In terms of motivation.
• 15:57
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, and holding ourselves accountable. Like, what do you do?
• 16:01
  Laurice Gonzales: Oh, okay.
• 16:04
  Melinda Lee: Hard, when.
• 16:05
  Laurice Gonzales: Tru.
• 16:05
  Melinda Lee: Art, what do you do.
• 16:06
  Laurice Gonzales: It's hard.
• 16:08
  Laurice Gonzales: I mean, you know, I'm gonna be honest, we're humans, we have our go through when we get frustrated.
• 16:15
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, that'.
• 16:17
  Laurice Gonzales: And you know, I guess I'm at an age and at a point in my career too, where it's like, let's just call it what it is.
• 16:27
  Melinda Lee: Exact.
• 16:28
  Laurice Gonzales: Hard day. Let's call it a hard day.
• 16:31
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 16:32
  Laurice Gonzales: If it's difficult, like, I'll just admit that it's difficult. If I don't understand it, I'll just say, hey, I don't understand it.
• 16:43
  Melinda Lee: So…
• 16:43
  Laurice Gonzales: Anything…
• 16:45
  Melinda Lee: I love that, I love that.
• 16:47
  Melinda Lee: Call it like it is. It's okay, right? Yeah.
• 16:51
  Laurice Gonzales: And I'm gonna be honest, in the earlier years of my career, sometimes you get scared of, like,
• 16:58
  Laurice Gonzales: Admitting.
• 16:59
  Melinda Lee: Mmh.
• 16:59
  Laurice Gonzales: For example, I don't understand something, I have to ask a question, and then you get all… I get all anxious, like, but if I ask that question, maybe they'll think this or that. But then I'm like, no, let's just ask the question, let's talk about it.
• 17:15
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 17:15
  Laurice Gonzales: And again, you know, like, I guess I'm in an environment too where that's okay.
• 17:23
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, and, you know, like, my current team…
• 17:26
  Laurice Gonzales: budget, right, you think it's very, siloed. Like, you sit on an Excel sheet just by yourself.
• 17:35
  Laurice Gonzales: When in fact, it's really not. It's a collaborative environment. You ask each other questions, more than just a number. What's the story behind that?
• 17:45
  Melinda Lee: Right, right, right.
• 17:46
  Laurice Gonzales: Same way of knowing that or understanding until you ask other people the question.
• 17:51
  Melinda Lee: Right, right, right.
• 17:52
  Laurice Gonzales: I think that's a great motivator for me, to be in that kind of environment, to have teammates where
• 18:03
  Laurice Gonzales: It's true when they say that there's no dumb questions. Because you actually feel that when you ask the questions, no one ever makes you feel like, you know?
• 18:15
  Laurice Gonzales: And so I think being in that kind of team, that kind of environment is
• 18:24
  Laurice Gonzales: You know, keeps you motivated even hard times.
• 18:28
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:29
  Laurice Gonzales: I think a big thing for me that is kind of, you know, it demotivates me, if that's what you call it.
• 18:39
  Laurice Gonzales: Is, I guess when, you know, like.
• 18:44
  Laurice Gonzales: There's… There's a lack of honesty.
• 18:50
  Laurice Gonzales: and then you start putting your guards up, you start, you know, feeling a certain way. And so, just being surrounded by people, right now, like, a team who's supportive.
• 19:04
  Laurice Gonzales: is a big motivator, and just finding your person in the office, right? Like, you have a person to talk to, because we all have tough days, but we all have good days, too.
• 19:18
  Melinda Lee: Yah.
• 19:18
  Laurice Gonzales: So having a person to share that with, I think is a great motivation for people.
• 19:24
  Laurice Gonzales: And I think, you know, fostering an environment like that doesn't… it's not a switch.
• 19:33
  Melinda Lee: Bye.
• 19:34
  Laurice Gonzales: Where you can.
• 19:34
  Melinda Lee: Oh, no, no.
• 19:35
  Laurice Gonzales: Magically turn it on and everybody is, you know, everybody's engaging with everyone.
• 19:42
  Laurice Gonzales: I think it's, I'd like to think of motivation as something that, We all protect.
• 19:52
  Laurice Gonzales: The leadership protects it.
• 19:54
  Laurice Gonzales: Because I guess this is a thing that I think about, you know, how when people are new, new in the department, they're all like shiny and excited and I have a new job and, you know, they have that level of energy, right?
• 20:09
  Melinda Lee: Yes, yeah.
• 20:10
  Laurice Gonzales: And then, you know, things get difficult, deadlines, all that, and then you kind of, it starts dwindling, right?
• 20:17
  Melinda Lee: Mmhm.
• 20:18
  Laurice Gonzales: And so I think of motivation as something that we protect.
• 20:23
  Laurice Gonzales: you know, people start with a high motivation. How do you protect that? How would leaders protect that?
• 20:30
  Laurice Gonzales: And when people start seeing that you value it, that's how you protect it.
• 20:34
  Melinda Lee: Yaaa…
• 20:35
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, I get the sense that the way to protect it is to provide a sense of trust and safety, because I think people start to
• 20:46
  Melinda Lee: you know, not be so shiny or motivated is when they're, like, beat down, or when they don't feel safe, there's guards up. Like, I think people can intrinsically, when they're contributing.
• 20:59
  Melinda Lee: when they're with people that they are having fun with, when they don't feel like, okay, they're going to get demeaned, you know, then they can continue to have that light. They can continue because they're doing something hopefully for the greater good. They know the strategic, you know, they know where the, you know, what we're doing together and they can add value and those type of things.
• 21:21
  Laurice Gonzales: Yes.
• 21:21
  Melinda Lee: people to protect, like you said, the motivation. And that's, like you said, I like that word, is that everybody protects that, not just one person. I can't do that on my own. It's like when everybody can protect it.
• 21:33
  Laurice Gonzales: Yep, I agree. Yes, exactly.
• 21:34
  Melinda Lee: And so are there like specific things through the employee engagement survey that you recommend, like things that have worked also too?
• 21:43
  Laurice Gonzales: Oh, yeah, well, so, one of the issues, or challenges, I guess, that's kind of…
• 21:52
  Laurice Gonzales: We've done employee survey, we've already done 3 iterations of it, and a recurring one would be, about communications. Different levels of it, right? Because I think communication is not a one-time fix-all kind of thing.
• 22:08
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 22:09
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, and so, especially for us, we're a department where people have very different tasks, you know? We have people whose
• 22:19
  Laurice Gonzales: priorities on a daily would be to go out, and out in, you know, the sites, and what they have to do in a day, and then there's the other side of the house, too, where folks who are in front of their computers all day. It's like.
• 22:32
  Laurice Gonzales: very diverse audience, and so how do you communicate?
• 22:38
  Laurice Gonzales: And, you know, again, like, we have leadership who are very much engaged in a sense where
• 22:48
  Laurice Gonzales: when they hear an issue, they would try their best to find a solution. And so, you know,
• 22:56
  Laurice Gonzales: in the aspect of communication and just feeling appreciated, one of the efforts that I think have resonated over the years is
• 23:06
  Laurice Gonzales: How we're strengthening, or like, at least we're leveraging various methods of communication.
• 23:13
  Laurice Gonzales: There's always a newsletter.
• 23:16
  Laurice Gonzales: But then now we have, like, monthly breakout room, where our director would share, important announcements. And, you know, ultimately the goal is to make that information available for everyone.
• 23:33
  Melinda Lee: Mmhm.
• 23:34
  Laurice Gonzales: Interestingly, because I think this started out around…
• 23:39
  Laurice Gonzales: The pandemic and so it initially started out as a virtual one.
• 23:46
  Melinda Lee: Mmhm.
• 23:46
  Laurice Gonzales: And as we get more feedback through the survey about communication.
• 23:53
  Laurice Gonzales: what they decided to do was to do it in person, too, in our operations yard. And that resonated so much.
• 24:02
  Laurice Gonzales: Anything.
• 24:04
  Laurice Gonzales: It I guess it's because, people are seeing the effort to reach out.
• 24:11
  Melinda Lee: Mmhm.
• 24:12
  Laurice Gonzales: The genuine effort to share the information the best we could.
• 24:16
  Melinda Lee: Mmhm.
• 24:17
  Laurice Gonzales: And also being able to connect to the director. I think that's just…
• 24:27
  Laurice Gonzales: That says a lot, right? Okay.
• 24:30
  Melinda Lee: Fascinating. Yeah.
• 24:32
  Laurice Gonzales: I love that.
• 24:32
  Melinda Lee: I love that.
• 24:33
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, and I think people appreciate it. Yeah. And I think,
• 24:39
  Laurice Gonzales: I think that's where… when we say…
• 24:43
  Laurice Gonzales: there should be different methods of communication, because it's not just a one… it's not just one tactic that works for everybody. You can have a newsletter, but if it doesn't reach your audience, like.
• 24:58
  Laurice Gonzales: The information's just gonna sit there, right?
• 25:01
  Laurice Gonzales: And so tailoring your method on how to share information I think is very important.
• 25:08
  Melinda Lee: So did the engagement survey say that the people wanted more info, like more touch points, information about the company?
• 25:15
  Laurice Gonzales: the app.
• 25:15
  Melinda Lee: The organization.
• 25:16
  Laurice Gonzales: Yep.
• 25:17
  Melinda Lee: Got it, got it.
• 25:18
  Laurice Gonzales: Getting timely information because it's hard sometimes. We're a big department.
• 25:23
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 25:23
  Laurice Gonzales: Sometimes the information's already out, but then it hasn't gotten cascaded to everyone, you know? And then you'll see it in the news, and you're like, huh, hang on, why do I not know about this, you know?
• 25:36
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And what, what, what was the impact? What did you see that was a before and after with the, what happened?
• 25:43
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, I think, so,
• 25:46
  Laurice Gonzales: In the prior iterations, like the first iterations of the employee survey, some people just felt like they're disconnected, right?
• 25:56
  Melinda Lee: Got it.
• 25:56
  Laurice Gonzales: And then in the more recent iteration of the survey, we actually see like positive comments.
• 26:03
  Melinda Lee: Oh, good.
• 26:04
  Laurice Gonzales: they actually appreciate it. And I think it's when people feel seen.
• 26:10
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:11
  Laurice Gonzales: Which kind of leads me to the other aspect of it, when we talk about recognition.
• 26:18
  Melinda Lee: -H.
• 26:19
  Laurice Gonzales: It's nice when there's like a yearly awards where you recognize best employees and all that. We love that, of course, right? But I think part of the recognition piece too is just being able to see people.
• 26:39
  Laurice Gonzales: See what they do, appreciate what they do, and, our director gives us, like, shoutouts.
• 26:47
  Laurice Gonzales: When there's good feedback coming from the public.
• 26:52
  Laurice Gonzales: So highlighting that and, you know, just.
• 26:58
  Laurice Gonzales: Don't let that be lost in all the busyness of the world.
• 27:03
  Melinda Lee: Thank you.
• 27:03
  Laurice Gonzales: It's just this one little moment of pause where we recognize the good things that people do.
• 27:12
  Melinda Lee: And it's free.
• 27:14
  Laurice Gonzales: It's free forever.
• 27:16
  Melinda Lee: Three. It goes a long way. I love that. I love that. And so I'm going to, I've learned so much. This is so fun. And so I have one last question.
• 27:28
  Melinda Lee: What is possible when companies start to have clear standards of communication? You said one earlier, you were going to send more communication regularly via newsletter, via, you know, meeting in person. But when, you know, companies right now, I see it as a soft skill. They just think, okay, we just communicate and that's it. But when there's like a clear standards of probably like, how do we give feedback?
• 27:53
  Melinda Lee: How do we have difficult conversation? You know, how do we share message? And so how do we act on these messages in a consistent, clear way? What is possible for companies when they have these type of communication standards?
• 28:08
  Laurice Gonzales: You know, standardizing communication is… If only we can figure it out 100%.
• 28:16
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:17
  Laurice Gonzales: Companies will go a long way and will solve so many problems, you know what I mean?
• 28:23
  Laurice Gonzales: I love it.
• 28:24
  Laurice Gonzales: Communication is hard, because.
• 28:26
  Melinda Lee: Yes.
• 28:26
  Laurice Gonzales: Not only do you have to understand your audience, you have to come up with, different methods that resonate.
• 28:34
  Laurice Gonzales: Because… A newsletter might work for one group of people, but not the other.
• 28:40
  Melinda Lee: Mmhm.
• 28:41
  Laurice Gonzales: How do you deliver the same news?
• 28:44
  Melinda Lee: Right, right.
• 28:44
  Laurice Gonzales: You know, finding a method of sharing that. Right.
• 28:50
  Laurice Gonzales: I think an important aspect of it too is not just standardization.
• 28:54
  Laurice Gonzales: But, also consistency.
• 28:57
  Melinda Lee: Right. Yeah.
• 28:58
  Laurice Gonzales: Hello?
• 28:58
  Melinda Lee: So true.
• 29:00
  Laurice Gonzales: Sometimes, you have a brilliant idea. Let's start doing this.
• 29:04
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 29:05
  Laurice Gonzales: And I think I'll go back to the method that our director communicates to the department.
• 29:12
  Laurice Gonzales: just… if you think about it, if I think about it, if she stopped at some point.
• 29:18
  Laurice Gonzales: Maybe the impact is not gonna be as strong as how it is right now, you know?
• 29:25
  Laurice Gonzales: Or,
• 29:27
  Laurice Gonzales: I think it's because the cadence is there, the messaging is there, the follow-ups, you know, if there was an announcement from two months ago and there's a new update, there's a follow-up. And so, consistency like that, and just being able to find a method of how to…
• 29:47
  Laurice Gonzales: When you're a company of 10 people, it's easier. But when you're a company of 1,800 employees.
• 29:55
  Melinda Lee: Thank you.
• 29:56
  Laurice Gonzales: Like, the methodology has to be consistent, you know, the, timing has to be consistent. If it's a monthly thing, people are gonna expect a monthly update.
• 30:09
  Laurice Gonzales: And so they know too, there's a sense of security in there.
• 30:13
  Melinda Lee: Right.
• 30:14
  Laurice Gonzales: Where it's like, oh, maybe in the next breakout, this is going to be discussed.
• 30:18
  Melinda Lee: Mmhm.
• 30:19
  Laurice Gonzales: And so there's that.
• 30:21
  Laurice Gonzales: The monthly breakouts to.
• 30:24
  Laurice Gonzales: open up, like, a Q&A portion, where if it wasn't discussed, or you have a question about something, you can type it in, ask the director about it, it'll get addressed.
• 30:35
  Melinda Lee: Mmh.
• 30:35
  Laurice Gonzales: And so that level of transparency I think is pretty amazing.
• 30:40
  Melinda Lee: -H.
• 30:40
  Laurice Gonzales: Just for her to find the time to do all those things. And I think it really changes the dynamics in terms of information sharing within the department. And, you know, of course, I don't think it'll be perfect.
• 30:57
  Laurice Gonzales: But at least seeing that there's the effort and there's the constant trying to find a new way of improving it or how do we enhance it, how do we, you know, be more effective about it.
• 31:14
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah.
• 31:16
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, and just sticking with it, like you said, it's not easy, but again, I think you're just keeping an eye on it, continuing to stick with it, staying consistent, I think that's good, like you said.
• 31:28
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah.
• 31:28
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, I love that. But it's the world is your oyster. When companies are able to do that, there's so many possibilities that can happen.
• 31:36
  Laurice Gonzales: Yeah, yeah. If we all understand what our North Star is.
• 31:42
  Melinda Lee: Yeah.
• 31:43
  Laurice Gonzales: Oh my gosh, the things that organizations will be able to achieve.
• 31:47
  Melinda Lee: Yeah. Okay.
• 31:47
  Laurice Gonzales: You're right, you know, people think it's a soft skill.
• 31:51
  Laurice Gonzales: When, you know.
• 31:53
  Laurice Gonzales: Effective communication is so crucial.
• 31:56
  Melinda Lee: Yes.
• 31:57
  Laurice Gonzales: In the functions of an organization. Yeah.
• 32:00
  Melinda Lee: Yeah. Yeah.
• 32:01
  Melinda Lee: Love it. Thank you so much, Laurice. I had a really great time, and I just thought all of the points that you made were so important.
• 32:10
  Melinda Lee: protecting the people's motivation. It's like comes from everyone. And when we're feeling low and down, remember our why, why are we doing this work? You know, why are we doing this for ourselves?
• 32:23
  Melinda Lee: There's so much, and then also, how do we continue to communicate what matters, our why from the top all the way down, so.
• 32:31
  Laurice Gonzales: Wow.
• 32:32
  Melinda Lee: I love it. Thank you so much. I'm really glad that we had a chance to do this a second time. Thank you again for all of your time today and sharing your insights.
• 32:41
  Laurice Gonzales: Thank you, Melinda. I really appreciate our conversation.
• 32:44
  Melinda Lee: Yeah, that was great. Thank you. And thank you, audience, for being here. Remember, smarter organizations don't just work harder. They work together with clarity, alignment, and purpose.
• 32:58
  Melinda Lee: So speak what matters, speak it often, and so your people can move forward together. Take care. Bye-bye.
• 33:06
  Melinda Lee: Bye, Larisse.